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Dreaded commute to the city is keeping offices mostly empty

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Re: Dreaded commute to the city is keeping offices mostly empty

#101

Post by silicon2401 »

BlargMcLarg wrote: post #51
Johnny555 wrote: post #6

That's one reason for sure, but even if my house was a 10 minute walk from the office, I'd still rather only go in for meetings. At home I have my own private office with a nice view. I have a nice set of speakers and can play any music I like. If I want to go for a walk, I'm in a quiet suburban neighborhood with hiking trails nearby. The kitchen is always stocked with snacks I like plus freshly prepared healthy lunc…

>There's enough background noise in the open office that I keep headphones on most of the time while I'm at my desk. I still don't get how we as a species went "this is fine". The complete loss of audiovisual privacy is such an immense drain. I'll buy the "being close together works better" argument, but I still can't grasp how that offsets all the distractions in the modern office.

I agree entirely. As a relatively misanthropic person, this was one of the many reasons why working in the office was miserable for me, and why the covid era has been the best time of my entire life. Moving forward I will exclusively consider remote positions, and I think other people should consider the benefits of doing so too.

Re: Dreaded commute to the city is keeping offices mostly empty

#103

Post by legitster »

colechristensen wrote: post #65
angarg12 wrote: post #23

All of my career I prioritized short commutes, which led to living in tiny apartments (as small as 25 sqmt) within a short commute from work. When Covid hit we had just moved to a new 1 bed flat and were paying our highest rent yet, but hey, 15 minutes commute! When it became evident we were in for the long haul we started looking to move again. We ended up moving to a 3 bed house with garden in a tiny village close…

Everyone on HN who loves urban density should read things like this. Quality of life cooped up in a dense urban setting, especially with a family, is awful. There's so much space in the world, we don't need to pack ourselves in tiny urban centers near "tech hubs" at all.

I enjoy living in a big house in the country, but I also enjoyed city living. It's nice walking everywhere and not having to own a car!

I think the big kicker is that city living in the US is drastically overpriced.

Re: Dreaded commute to the city is keeping offices mostly empty

#104

Post by 99_00 »

dougmwne wrote: post #21

This is a point that seems to be conveniently left out by most return to office advocates. My coworkers in Boston, DC and SF often had hellish commutes, up to 2 hours each way. That is a serious chunk of the waking hours of the day to spend on the road, not to mention the huge cost and environmental impact of the fuel, the emissions, and the additional roads that needed to be built to support these commutes. The stat…

>This is a point that seems to be conveniently left out by most return to office advocates.

In my experience these tend to be executives who can afford to live on expensive real estate close to the city center. And therefore, have a very short commute.

That's how cities where I live and people who I talk to live are laid out anyways. Downtown core is most expensive, and then the further out you go the cheaper it gets and the more painful the commute to the downtown core is.

Re: Dreaded commute to the city is keeping offices mostly empty

#105

Post by Steltek »

asdff wrote: post #75
Steltek wrote: post #57

As the exception that proves the rule, I missed my commute terribly and its absence was having a negative impact on me. However, I have a 30 minute bicycle commute, which I think changes everything. The daily exercise, change of scenery, and fresh air made all the difference in the world. I'm probably more productive for my employer at home but I feel way better as a human being when I commute in. When WFH, there wer…

I hated my old commute but I still liked the idea of a commute. So now I walk around my neighborhood for 15 mins or so with a mug of coffee and that's my commute. Maybe for you, you can try and simulate a bike commute by riding a fixed route around your neighborhood every morning.

"Simulating a commute" seems a little silly compared to just commuting as normal? Once you've committed to the time, there's nothing critically deficient with my work-office or my commute that they need replacing.

Maybe I also understated how the change of scenery from working in a different place was also helpful. It marks a mental shift between work and home but downtown is also just more visually exciting and interesting than home.

Re: Dreaded commute to the city is keeping offices mostly empty

#107

Post by 99_00 »

switch007 wrote: post #13

EU perspective: Gas is high and cars are expensive. Cities are full of drug addicts, homeless people, and empty shops. And crime. I don’t even like going downtown for leisure. House prices and rents have rocketed so people who moved the last 2 years to upsize have done so even further from the office. Not to mention presenteeism spreading viruses. Not to mention awful noisy offices designed by sadists. It’s far more…

>Cities are full of drug addicts, homeless people, and empty shops. And crime. I don’t even like going downtown for leisure.

Was it always like this or has this gotten worse because of the pandemic?

Re: Dreaded commute to the city is keeping offices mostly empty

#108

Post by asdff »

Steltek wrote: post #105
asdff wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hated my old commute but I still liked the idea of a commute. So now I walk around my neighborhood for 15 mins or so with a mug of coffee and that's my commute. Maybe for you, you can try and simulate a bike commute by riding a fixed route around your neighborhood every morning.

"Simulating a commute" seems a little silly compared to just commuting as normal? Once you've committed to the time, there's nothing critically deficient with my work-office or my commute that they need replacing. Maybe I also understated how the change of scenery from working in a different place was also helpful. It marks a mental shift between work and home but downtown is also just more visually exciting and inte…

Imo because rarely is a commute to work perfectly ideal. Mine is risky on a bike, so if I were to bike around my neighborhood instead its a lot safer. Also, imo, walking around my mostly residential neighborhood with a warm mug of coffee is a lot less stressful than piling in a car and sitting on a congested freeway for 50 minutes.

Re: Dreaded commute to the city is keeping offices mostly empty

#109

Post by avisser »

wollsmoth wrote: post #71
loloquwowndueo wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A conference room full of people is a nightmare for remote meetings - audio quality is horrendous and it’s very hard to make out what people in the speakerphone setup are saying. Everyone having their own headset makes for a much better experience for everyone. Unless the meeting is primarily in person with a few remote participants - then those get left out and have trouble catching up. Hybrid remote doesn’t work -…

I haven't had that experience but I'm sure quality setups don't come cheap. Actually... the polycom setups don't seem that expensive. Idk, I guess I haven't experienced major issues with that personally.

I can't tell you how many times I've been on a call w/ a room full of people & a PolyCom system... and then the Zoom meeting is hosted on some asshole's laptop mic.

It's hard to do the right thing sometimes.

Re: Dreaded commute to the city is keeping offices mostly empty

#110

Post by foolinaround »

more than half of the folks who have offices in NYC that I spoke to - told me that they just feel uncomfortable travelling in the train after recent incidents.

This is in addition to other issues discussed, but atleast 2 people who were planning to go back now have indefinitely postponed plans.

It really is not that unsafe (sporadic incidents) but stacked along with other disadvantages, folks just dont want to go in.

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